Tektronix has expanded the RSA6000 series of spectrum analyzers to include the RSA6120A, which extends top bandwidth from 14 to 20 GHz, making the instrument suitable for applications operating at 12 to 18 GHz (see “Tektronix addresses RF/microwave challenges, hosts Mesuro at IMS booth,” Test & Measurement World, June 14, 2009). With a spurious-free dynamic range of 75 dB and a TOI (third-order intercept) of 19 dB above 6 GHz, the instrument offers the industry’s best dynamic-range performance at these frequencies, according to Darren McCarthy, the company’s technical-marketing manager for RF test. The instrument offers 3- to 8-dB better TOI performance than competing instruments that operate in the same band and in the 8- to 12-GHz band. With a 110-MHz real-time-capture bandwidth, the instrument outperforms traditional signal analyzers in real-time bandwidth and dynamic range.

The RSA6000 instruments target radar and electronic warfare, in which they analyze complex pulse trains; spectrum management, in which they scan wide spectrums yet focus on narrow bands of interest and act on specific signals; and radio/satellite communications, in which they handle new modulation formats that improve spectrum efficiency and analyze dynamic changes in cognitive and adaptive radios. “The RSA6120A provides our customers with a … combination of bandwidth and dynamic range to 20 GHz, allowing them to fully view RF signals in real time,” says Bob Hiebert, director of marketing for Tektronix’s RF-product line. The device allows you to dramatically reduce the time it takes to gain insight into high-frequency applications because users can trigger on low-level signals that traditional analyzers obscure or miss, he explains.

The RSA6120A incorporates a switched-filter preselector to optimize channel flatness operation for all measurements. Flatness across 100 MHz, for instance, is ±0.7 dB rms and ±1.5°. The RSA6120A also provides radar designers with signal-analysis tools, including impulse response and 26 other automated pulse-parameter measurements, statistical measurement, and waveform replay with acquisition history. The base price for the RSA6120A is $96,400.